358 LINNiEUS. 



packet from M. Gahn, whose handwriting I recog- 

 nised in the direction, lest I might perhaps find a 

 letter, the last, and now posthumous, pledge of his 

 friendship, flattering me with hopes which I had 

 already abandoned. Allow me, therefore, my dear 

 sir, to recall to your mind those recollections which, 

 however sad, we ought not to forget. If it were 

 possible for you to overcome the feelings of nature, 

 I cannot satisfy the claims of friendship without la- 

 menting, with you, our common loss. 



" Let me inform you, therefore, tiiat, so long ago as 

 the year 1761, when I ventured to introduce myself 

 to this great man by a trifling communication, as I 

 had not enjoyed any intercourse w^ith him before my 

 departure from Europe, I was first favoured, in this 

 my distant abode, with one of those letters, so highly 

 valued by the most learned men in Europe. In 

 this, according to his usual custom, your distin- 

 guished father endeavoured, in the most attractive 

 style, to stimulate my youthful ardour more and 

 more for the study of nature. From that period I 

 rejoiced to devote myself to his service, and our cor- 

 respondence was kept up for eighteen years, as re- 

 gularly as the great distance between us, the negli- 

 gence of those in whom we confided, and my occa- 

 sional extensive journeys would admit. By some 

 unavoidable accidents, indeed, many of my letters 

 never reached him ; and I have also, too late, dis- 

 covered that many of his had been lost. Mean- 

 while, our communications were confidential and 

 exclusive, not extended on my part to any other 

 persons, whether my countrymen or not ; for I de- 

 voted all my discoveries and all ray labours to his 

 immortal genius alone. A little while ago, when I 



